Various skills are required to play baseball and softball. One such skill is the ability to hit a ball with a bat. Effective batting requires good hand-and-eye coordination to achieve the proper contact between bat and ball, and good technique to achieve the desired hitting power. Both of these elements are typically improved with practice.
Batting practice often involves the use of a pitcher or pitching machine to throw balls to the batter. For inexperienced batters, however, the variables encountered in the speed, path, and rotation of the pitch may be difficult to surmount initially. As a result, batting tees have been developed to support the ball in a stationary position, allowing the batter to concentrate on technique without worrying about the vagaries of a particular pitch. This arrangement can be particularly successful in developing confidence in young batters.
A conventional batting tee is a substantially cylindrical post having a lower end designed to be driven into the ground and an upper end that is cupped to support the ball. The post is flexible to avoid damage in the event the post is struck by the batter during practice. To begin practice, the batter sets a ball on the tee and then steps into a batter's box adjacent the tee. The batter then swings the bat to hit the ball off of the tee. The process is then repeated until the batter is done practicing.
There are several disadvantages with such conventional batting tees. First, either a large supply of balls is required, or the balls must be retrieved periodically for batting practice to continue. Second, unless some form of backstop is employed, batting practice using conventional tees typically must occur outdoors. Finally, it is believed that the design of conventional batting tees, including, for example, the way in which the ball is supported, hampers their effectiveness in teaching proper batting technique.
In view of these observations, it would be desirable to provide a baseball tee that does not require a ball to be repositioned after each hit, that can be used indoors, and that provides more effective training.